Reinforced closure and retainer panels



Nov. 10, 1964 D. H. BLATT 3,1 5,6

REINFORCED CLOSURE AND RETAINER PANELS Filed Oct. 23, 1961 j4 223 Err:z:::::

INVENTOR. DAVID H. BLATT ATTORNEY United States Patent 3 156,604 REIIJFGRCED CLOSUl KE AND RETAINER PANELS David H. lllatt, Melrose Park, Pa, assignor to Walnut lindustries, Inc., Philadelphia, Pin, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Get. 23, 1961, Ear. No. 146,886 4 Claims. (ill. 161-113) This invention relates generally to closure and retaining panels. More particularly, this invention relates to reinforced disposable paper panels which may be used as retaining members and closure doors for railroad box cars or trucks, or to provide quickly erectable bulkheads or partitions to segregate different areas of a storage chamber and to prevent load shifting in those cases where the storage chamber is mobile, such as within the interior of a truck body or of a railroad box car.

Briefly, the invention contemplates a laminated paper structure including a plurality of spaced apart parallel extending non-metallic reinforcing tapes bonded into the structure between laminations thereof and immediately underlying a plurality of regularly occurring spaced apart Windows cut through one of the paper laminations so as to expose a length of the non-metallic tape at spaced apart points along the tape length. The provision of these windows for exposing portions of the tape is very important and imparts great versatility of use to the paper panelling, as will become clear from the specification which follows.

The disposable paper panelling made according to the invention may be made of any desired length and width and in a continuous piece so that the user may cut off as much as is desired for a particular application and store the remainder for subsequent use. Thus, there is no need for the manufacturer to make, or the user to stock, a large number of different sized preformed panels to meet the requirements of different applications. Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a novel paper panel structure having reinforcing non-metallic tape laminated into the structure, with means provided at regular intervals along the tape length which make the tape readily accessible without requiring partial destruction of the panelling to gain access to the tape.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel non-metallic tape reinforced paper panelling structure as aforesaid which can be compactly rolled up for shipping and storage, and which may be unrolled and cut to a particular length as needed for a desired application, the remainder of the roll being then storable for future use.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel non-metallic tape reinforced paper panelling structure including a tear-back feature by means of which desired lengths of the tape may be freed from the paper panelling to effect a securement.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification in conjunction with an examination of the appended drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 illustrates in plan view one side of a length of the paper panelling according to the invention showing the laminated construction of the paper layers and tapes, with windows cut through one of the laminations to expose portions of the underlying tape;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional View through the structure illustrated in FIGURE 1 as would be seen when viewed along the line 2-2 thereof, taken through the windowed region of the structure;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view through the structure illustrated in FIGURE 1 as would be seen when viewed along the line 33 of that figure, the section being taken through a non-windowed region of the structure;

FlGURE 4 illustrates the paper panelling shown in FIGURES 1 to 3 formed into a convenient cylindrical roll for easy storage and handling;

FIGURE 5 illustrates an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of two pieces of paper panelling according to the invention disposed in end-overlapped relation through the windowed region with the tape ends lifted from the paper panelling and prior to securement; and

FEGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective showing similar to that of FIGURE 5 excepting that the unsecured tape ends have been overlapped and clamped together by means of a seal.

In the several figures, like elements are denoted by like reference characters.

Turning now to an examination of the figures, consider first the showings of FIGURES l to 3 which illustrate the structural aspects of the flexible tape reinforced paper panelling. The panelling is generally designated as 20 and basically consists of a paper web or Sheet 21, a plurality of paper backing strips 22 adhesively secured to the web or sheet 21, and a plurality of non-metallic tapes 23 sandwiched between the web 21 and backing strips 22, the tapes being also adhesively secured to the web 21.

The non-metallic tapes 23 may be of any desired construction and material having the requisite tensile strength and lightness in weight, as, for example, a weftless tape now commercially available made by securing a plurality of high tenacity rayon tire cords together in side by side relation. Such a fabric tape may be secured in position between the Web 21 and strip 22 by gluing the tape to either the web 21 or strips 22. Securement of the tape to either the web 21 or the paper strips 22, but not to both, is preferred for reasons which will be subsequently made clear. Where the tape is of the type wherein the cords thereof are bonded together by a heat-scalable composition, the tape may be heat-sealed to the web or the strips as desired as the paper panelling is being fabricated.

As best seen in FIGURES 1 and 2, the paper web or sheet 21 is provided with a plurality of spaced apart windows or cutouts 24 located so as to overlie and register with the tapes 23, and to thus render spaced portions of the latter not only visible but also physically accessible therethrough. The paper panelling 20 may be readily fabricated with well-known paper combining machinery, the modifications to such equipment that are necessary being the provision of punch apparatus for knocking out the windows 24 in the web 21 as it is fed from its supply roll, and means for feeding the tapes 23 into the combining machinery properly positioned to provide for their registery with the windows 24 of the web 21. As best seen in FEGURE 1, the paper backing strips 22 are provided with glue margins 26 separated by a glue-free central band 27 of width somewhat in excess of the width of the tapes 23. As a consequence, when the paper web 21, paper backing-strip 22 and tapes 23 are combined, the backing strips 22 are securely glued to the Web 21 by the glue margins 26 but are not glued to the tapes 23. The tapes 23 are also glued to the paper web 21 either by means of a glue stripe laid down on the web 21 or by glue which may be applied instead to the surface of the tape 23 which faces the web 21.

If desired, the web 21 could be of unwindowed or imperforate form and the windows 24 could be punched in the paper-backing strips 22. In this form of construction, the glue margins 2-6 of the paper backings 22 would be extended inward to completely cover the surface of the strips and eliminate the glue-free central band 27 so that the backing-strip 22 would be glued both to the tapes 23 and to the web 21 but the tapes 23 would not be glued to the web. In either form of panelling it will be now understood that the tapes 23 are glued to whichever one of the paper web 21 or backing-strips 22 contain the windows 24, and are not glued to the other or unwindowed lamination.

The paper web 21, paper-backin. strips 22 and tapes 23 are all continuously fed through the combining machine from large supply rolls and result in the production of a continuous length of panelling 29. As the panelling 2th is formed in its finished state it may be conveniently Wound upon a take-up roll until a predetermined continuous length thereof has been wound into the roll, whereupon it may be severed and a new roll started. The compact cylindrical rolls of panelling 26 so formed may then be secured from unwinding in any convenient fashion for subsequent shipment and storage. A roll 28 of panelling 20 of the general type described and shown in FIGURES l to 3 is illustrated in the perspective view of FIGURE 4 with a portion of the panelling unrolled. It will of course be appreciated that the panelling 2% may be made of any desired width and may have more or less of the tapes 23 secured thereto with the spacing between successive pairs of such tapes being either uniform or difierent as desired.

The reinforced paper panelling 20 may be used as a continuous retaining member by unrolling the requisite length of panelling from a roll such as 28 shown in FIG- URE 4 and securing opposite ends of the panelling to the wall structure of the enclosure within which it is desired to confine variously packaged commodities, as for example within an end section of a railroad boxcar or truck body. The panelling may be conveniently secured to the enclosure walls by means of staples or other securements means, care being exercised to insure that the tapes 23 are properly anchored to absorb the load and to prevent the load being borne by the paper web 21 at the anchoring point.

In those cases in which it is desired to employ the panelling as a closure and retaining means, two pieces of the panelling are utilized and are cut to be of sufficient length so that when their remote ends are secured to the enclosure wall an overlap is provided at the meeting ends of the two pieces of panelling, such an overlap condition being shown in FIGURES 5 and 6. Further, it will be observed in the showings of FIGURES 5 and 6 that the panelling sections Eda and b are cut so that their overlapped terminating ends pass through the windowed regions of the panelling. Since the central bands 27a and 27b of the backing-strips 22a and 22b respectively are glue free, the cut ends of the tapes 23a and 23b are free of securement and may be readily pulled back in the manner shown in FIGURE 5 so that the panelling ends may be overlapped. The absence of a glue securement of the tape to the backing-strip prevents tearing of the backing strips when the tape ends are turned back. The free ends of the tapes 23a and 23b may now be brought together and securely clamped as by means of the seal 29 as shown in FIGURE 6.

If a greater panelling overlap than that shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 is desired, the panelling sections 26a and 2% may be of course cut to be of longer length, and the lifted tape ends 23:: and 23b of FIGURE 5 may be pulled back to tear back the paper Web 21 along the dashed line shown in FIGURE 1, these dashed lines 25 indicating the side edges of the tapes 23. Since the tapes are not adhesively secured to the backing strips by virtue of the glue-free central bands 27a and 2712, it will be appreciated that there is no tendency to tear the backing-strip as the tapes 23a and 231) are back-pulled so that no Weak regions in the panelling are developed. The significance of adhesive securement of the tape to only the windowed panelling layer should now be clear since it is the windowed layer which will be torn back when necessary and it is desired that the non-windowed or imperforate layer shall be maintained intact.

It will of course be understood that any suitable construction of tape may be utilized in lieu of the weftless Cir cord type hereinbefore mentioned, such as for example woven fabric tapes as well as woven or unwoven tapes of plastic having the requisite flexibility and tensile strength. Moreover, in those instances where the tape tear-back provision is not desired, the tapes may be glued to both the Web and the backing strips with the provision that the tapes remain unsecured to the imperforate paper layer in the window areas of the panel so that the tape end may be readily lifted without tearing the imperforate layer. Also, it will be appreciated that the incorporation of Windows for exposing spaced apart portions of the tape may be advantageously employed in panelling produced in the form of sheets of predetermined length.

Having now described my invention in connection with a particularly illustrated embodiment thereof, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications of the same may occur to those persons normally skilled in the art without departing from the essential spirit or scope of the invention, and accordingly, it is intended to claim the same broadly as well as specifically as indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed to be new and useful is:

1. Reinforced non-metallic flexible barrier material adapted for use as paneling for constructing bulkheads, partitions and like barrier walls to cover an open space extending between relatively fixed structural elements of a load-confining compartment comprising, in combination, a paper web of predeterminedly fixed uniform width but of an indeterminate length substantially exceeding the expanse of said normally open space, a plurality of relatively narrow fiat tapes of non-metallic flexible material of tensile strength greatly exceeding that of the paper Web, said tapes extending in transversely spaced parallel relation to each other and the side edges of said paper web continuously along the full length of and in fiatwise engagement with one surface of said paper web, and a separate paper backing for the tapes coextensive in length with the paper web and adhesively bonded thereto in overlying relation to said tapes whereby the latter are each sandwiched between bonded-together laminates of web and backing, said tapes being partially adhesively bonded to one of said laminates so as to normally constitute it a part of said one laminate but being individually strippable from the paneling without destroying the integrity of the paneling, at least one of said laminates being provided with recurring means spaced along the length thereof for exposing and rendering accessible longitudinally spaced portions of the tapes for securing the tape-exposed portions of the paneling to the supporting walls therefor and whereby, when the barrier material is transversely severed, the severed end portions of the paper Web may be disposed in overlapped relation and the severed end portions of the tapes may be freely lifted out of the plane of the barrier material and overlapped for securement together in overlying relation to the overlapped portions of the paper web.

2. Reinforced barrier material as defined in claim 1 wherein said paper backing for the tapes comprises a plurality of relatively narrow strips of paper respectively overlying the several tapes, each such strip being of a width such that its opposite longitudinal edges respectively project beyond the corresponding marginal edges of its underlying tape.

3. Reinforced non-metallic flexible barrier material adapted for use as paneling for constructing bulkheads, partitions and like barrier walls to cover an open space extending between relatively fixed structural elements of a load-confining compartment comprising, in combination, a paper web of predeterminedly fixed uniform width but of an indeterminate length substantially exceeding the expanse of said normally open space, a plurality of relatively narrow flat tapes of non-metallic flexible material of tensile strength greatly exceeding that of the paper web, said tapes extending in transversely spaced sneer-30a parallel relation to each other and the side edges of said paper Web continuously along the full length of and in fiatwise engagement with one surface of said paper web, and a separate paper backing for the tapes coextensive in length with the paper web and adhesively bonded thereto in overlying relation to said tapes whereby the latter are each sandwiched between bonded-together laminates of web and backing, said tapes being partially adhesively bonded to one of said laminates so as to normally constitute it a part of said one laminate but being individually strippable from the paneling without destroying the integrity of the paneling, at least one of said laminates being provided at spaced intervals along the lengths of the tapes with recurring tape-access openings disposed in registry with the tapes, each of said openings being adapted to facilitate stripping back said one laminate to visibly expose and render accessible portions of the tapes for securing the tape-exposed portions of the paneling to the supporting walls therefor and whereby, when the barrier material is transversely severed along a line intersecting said tape-access openings, the severed end portions of the paper Web may be disposed in overlapped relation and the severed end portions of 6 the tapes may be freely lifted out of the plane of the barrier material and overlapped for secnrement together in overlying relation to the overlapped portions of the paper web.

4. Reinforced barrier material as defined in claim 3 wherein said openings are in the form of windows of uniform width and length arranged in transversely spaced groups with the centers of the windows of each such group coincident with a line extending at right angles to the length of the barrier material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,462,309 2/49 Dyke l-36S 2,659,432 11/53 Lau -668 2,771,385 11/56 Humphner l5453.5 2,863,597 12/58 Strine.

2,890,747 6/59 Murphy 160-3 68 2,895,865 7/59 Humphner.

3,025,908 3/62 Ford et a1. 160368 3,028,281 4/62 Karass l6l-143 EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner. 

1. REINFORCED NON-METALLIC FLEXIBLE BARRIER MATERIAL ADAPTED FOR USE AS PANELING FOR CONSTRUCTING BULKHEADS, PARTITIONS AND LIKE BARRIER WALLS TO COVER AN OPEN SPACE EXTENDING BETWEEN RELATIVELY FIXED STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS OF A LOAD-CONFINING COMPARTMENT COMPRISING, A COMBINATION, A PAPER WEB OF PREDETERMINEDLY FIXED UNIFORM WIDTH BUT OF AN INDETERMINATE LENGTH SUBSTANTIALLY EXCEEDING THE EXPANSE OF SAID NORMALLY OPEN SPACE, A PLURALITY OF RELATIVELY NARROW FLAT TAPES OF NON-METALLIC FLEXIBLE MATERIAL OF TENSILE STRENGTH GREATLY EXCEEDING THAT OF THE PAPER WEB, SAID TAPES EXTENDING IN TRANSVERSELY SPACED PARALLEL RELATION TO EACH OTHER AND THE SIDE EDGES OF SAID PAPER WEB CONTINUOUSLY ALONG THE FULL LENGTH OF AND IN FLATWISE ENGAGEMENT WITH ONE SURFACE OF SAID PAPER WEB, AND A SEPARATE PAPER BACKING FOR THE TAPES COEXTENSIVE IN LENGTH WITH THE PAPER WEB AND ADHESIVELY BONDED THERETO IN OVERLYING RELATION TO SAID TAPES WHEREBY THE LATTER ARE EACH SANDWICHED BETWEEN BONDED-TOGETHER LAMINATES OF WEB AND BACKING, SAID TAPES BEING PARTIALLY ADHESIVELY BONDED TO ONE OF SAID LAMINATES SO AS TO NORMALLY CONSTITUTE IT A PART OF SAID ONE LAMINATE BUT BEING INDIVIDUALLY STRIPPABLE FROM THE PANELING WITHOUT DESTROYING THE INTEGRITY OF THE PANELING, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID LAMINATES BEING PROVIDED WITH RECURRING MEANS SPACED ALONG THE LENGTH THEREOF EXPOSING AND RENDERING ACCESSIBLE LONGITUDINALLY SPACED PORTIONS OF THE TAPES FOR SECURING THE TAPE-EXPOSED PORTIONS OF THE PANELING TO THE SUPPORTING WALLS THEREFOR AND WHEREBY, WHEN THE BARRIER MATERIAL IS TRANSVERSELY SEVERED, THE SEVERED END PORTIONS OF THE PAPER WEB MAY BE DISPOSED IN OVERLAPPED RELATION AND THE SEVERED END PORTIONS OF THE TAPES MAY BE FREELY LIFTED OUT OF THE PLANE OF THE BARRIER MATERIAL AND OVERLAPPED FOR SECUREMENT TOGETHER IN OVERLYING RELATION TO THE OVERLAPPED PORTIONS OF THE PAPER WEB. 